Allen Armstrong, secretary of the Levenmouth Rail Campaign, explains why reopening the Thornton to Leven rail line is essential to improve the life opportunities of the local population. Campaign activists presented a 12,500 signature petition demanding the reinstatement of rail services to Transport Minister Humza Yousaf on 1st June 2017 outside the Scottish parliament, witnessed by MSPs of all parties.

Railfuture had campaigned for decades for the Borders Railway (or at least part of it) to be rebuilt. It was not alone. The reopening was a popular campaign, supported by many, including David Spaven who is a consultant and writer on railways. Very welcome as the half-hourly service is, there have been foreseeable problems with the service and Mr Spaven described these in an article published in The Scotsman on 5 September 2016. All photos by Jerry Alderson.

Railfuture has spent decades campaigning for new railway stations to open and for closed ones to reopen. If proof were needed that Railfuture is effective, more than 400 stations have (re)opened in that time. Of course, it’s also important that the stations are ‘up to scratch’. Edinburgh Gateway Interchange station will open in December 2016 and a video (screenshot from it) shows what to expect.

Over 500 pupils from 13 primary schools across the Scottish Borders and Midlothian have had the chance to get hands-on engineering experience thanks to the Borders Railway ‘Bridges to Schools’ project, supported by the ICE